Kevin Durant feels for Isaiah Thomas after being traded twice

OAKLAND – Thursday’s NBA trade deadline is an exciting day for NBA fans, who get to sit back and watch the drama unfold. But Kevin Durant said it’s a different story for NBA players, whose lives can be uprooted at a moment’s notice.

Durant specifically then referred to Isaiah Thomas, who was reportedly traded Thursday from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers along with Channing Frye and the Cavaliers’ 2018 first-round pick in exchange for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.

“You see guys like Isaiah being traded two times in a year,” Durant said of Thomas, who was dealt from the Boston Celtics to the Cavaliers over the summer. “Guys have to get up and move their families. That’s what you see as a player. You’ve got to get up and go to another city, play for another organization, another team. That’s the type of stuff I think about more so than it’s fun that guys are getting traded. It’s definitely a fun time of year for the fans and everybody else but, for players, you kind of take it for what it’s worth and move on.”

The Warriors have played the Cavaliers in three straight NBA Finals, and Durant said the Warriors’ Eastern Conference rivals improved with that move.

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“They got better,” Durant said. “They made moves they wanted to make, and I’m sure they’re going to make it work over there. It’s fun for all of the fans and the media to see what’s going on with the trade deadline. But for the players, you just try to get through it and move on.”

Draymond Green said Thursday has been “really interesting so far.” He said he heard about Cleveland’s trade right before the Warriors’ shootaround began.

“They made some good moves,” Green said. “…That’s a completely different team now than the team we’ve played the last three years.”

That being said, Green pointed out that the Cavaliers still have their most important piece.

“They’ve still got LeBron James,” Green said. “Everything else at that point is irrelevant.”

Green went on to say that he thinks that the Warriors, who have the top record in the NBA at 41-13 and are the reigning NBA champions, shouldn’t need to make any major moves.

“I think we’re pretty good,” Green said. “We’re confident.”

But Green then added that in the NBA, really anything could happen.

“I’m not a GM, so I may be sitting here talking to you and then get a call that I’ve been traded,” Green said. “But from what I know, we’re pretty good.”